I know that spraypaint will work, but will look like crap after a few bumps
and scrapes - even with a paint and primer specifically made for plastic.
What is an easy way to change a beige drive to a black one? How about to
silver?
Vinyl Dye
There is nothing else that does as well, including so-called
plastic spray paint like Kyrlon Fusion. Epoxy type paints
can work but do not provide the coloration without blurring
details.
Paint will flake and rub off easier, but vinyl dye will
still come off from scrapes. There is nothing you can do to
prevent this because the plastic itself is soft. Even on a
professionally manufacturered high-end product, if the dye
color is not mixed into the plastic but only on the surface,
if you scratch it the surface will come off and show the
true color of the plastic.
Vinyl dye doesn't come in many colors, but grey, dark
silver, and black are among those it does usually come in
(popular at least, but subject to availability at your local
stores like auto parts stores if not ordered online).
Do you really need to paint drives? There are black and
silver drives available for purchase, and the silver may
come closer to matching a case that started out silver. I
would tend to use the dye on one only if I had some other
front-panel devices that needed to be silver too (but
weren't available in silver like the drives are) such that
when both were painted, the silver on both matched.
